Meeting between Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and President of International Committee of the Red Cross

28/02/2017

Contenido de la página

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Alfonso Dastis, held a meeting on Tuesday, 28 February with Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on the sidelines of the High-Level Segment of the March session of the Human Rights Council.

They agreed on their respective analyses of the global humanitarian situation, in which, as a result of increasingly lengthy and complex crises, a higher number of civilians are being affected.

Against this backdrop, Minister Dastis reiterated to Peter Maurer that, for Spain, the Red Cross and the ICRC is a humanitarian partner of the first order, a global benchmark in the protection of victims of armed conflicts and a reliable partner in the humanitarian action of our country. The joint work dynamic and the quality of our relations are highly satisfactory. Spain contributed to the calls from the ICRC in 2016 with donations of 6.15 million euros. The minister also highlighted the solidarity of Spanish society with the humanitarian agenda, particularly with the Red Cross and the ICRC and they both agreed to explore formulas that facilitate the channelling of support from enterprises towards the ICRC.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation underlined Spain’s commitment to international humanitarian law to the President of the ICRC, as demonstrated over the two years it worked on the United Nations Security Council. In this regard, the important Resolution 2286, on the protection of medical assistance in conflicts, is an example of successful joint work with the ICRC.

To end, the minister invited the President of the ICRC to visit Spain shortly to continue extending collaboration between this organisation and our country.